


A Princely Question

by AuntG



Series: Merlin, Prince of the Far Far Away Isles [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Era, Dragons, Iona - Freeform, Letters, Magic, Major Illness, Mirrors, Prince Merlin (Merlin), the great purge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27215404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuntG/pseuds/AuntG
Summary: After a strange knight flies to Camelot on dragonback and declares that Merlin is a prince, he goes and hands Merlin a letter.Here Merlin reads the letter and decides what he's going to do about it.Follow up to "I'm a What???"
Series: Merlin, Prince of the Far Far Away Isles [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1986913
Comments: 6
Kudos: 71





	A Princely Question

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing.
> 
> I still have no beta so all mistakes are mine.

**A Princely Question**

"A prince, ah said." Sir Finlay repeated.

Merlin looked at him in shock and growing confusion. Sir Leon quietly ordered the guards to make everyone back up.

"Hauld yer horses." Sir Finlay muttered as he turned to his draconic mount, absentmindedly patting the creature just below the gills as he ignored the large sword strapped on the azure dragon's back and searched through the saddlebags. 

"Ah hae…" Sir Finlay said as he tossed several objects out of the bag. "Where's that damn letter?" he said just as his fingers pulled at the corner of a folded piece of paper.

"Haw! thare it's!" he said as he unfolded it and tried to pass the letter over to Merlin, but was stopped by Sir Leon, who took the letter from his hand.

"Na! that's nae meant fur ye!" Sir Finlay protested with a scowl.

"I'm sorry, but I'm required to look at all correspondence that goes to royal personages from unknown entities."

"That's nae fur th' king, that's fur th' Farawa' prince!"

"And unless you want King Uther to read it, you'll let me do so." Sir Leon said quietly as he quickly skimmed the contents.

Sir Finlay stood sullenly for the next minute as the castlefolk got bored and drifted off.

"What's his name?" Merlin said, his mind awhir with questions, but deciding to ask about a less confusing topic as he turned to look at the beautiful long necked dragon.

 _"Her name is Nessie, young warlock."_ The dragon said as she spoke into Merlin's mind.

 _"I thought that all the dragons were dead… where did you come from?"_ Merlin thought back.

_"Where did I come from? Domon, I have been living by the Castle in the Loch in North Uist, but was that really what you meant to ask?"_

At that point, Merlin realized that she was right, he had asked the wrong question.

 _"I think what I really meant to ask is where you were born?"_ …and how did she escape the Purge?

 _"The Isle of Iona is still a place where the old ways are worshipped. It's waters flow with magic* and that draws magical creatures near. I was born there… and there I was protected by magic."_ The dragon bared her teeth in the rictus of a smile.

_"But if you were protected, why did you leave?"_

_"All young dragons yearn to travel, to stretch our wings and sail the skies. But yes, once I had traveled a bit I learned of Uther's crusade against magic kind."_ The dragon said, and she stretched out a wing revealing scars similar to ones he had seen on humans from arrow fire.

 _"Fortunately, I came across Finlay, who had enough of a familiarity with dragons that he broadcast his thoughts and promised me sanctuary in return for playing the courier."_ The dragon said and turned to look at the old knight with what might be fondness.

 _"You like it there in your new home?"_ Merlin said, curious about the kingdom.

The dragon shook her head, and gained a few nervous looks.

_"I like it fine, but it's not my lair. Someday I will find a Loch with the perfect cave nearby… I still have centuries to look."_

Merlin was about to ask another question, when suddenly Sir Leon finished reading the letter and handed it to Merlin.

*****

_"My Lord Merlin,_

_It has lately come to our attention that King Dhòmhnaill Ambrosia's second youngest son Balynor Galan Ambrosia, Prince of Domon and Dragonlord of Camelot, did not die at the start of the Purge but lived long enough to father a son with a woman named Hunith in Essetir…_

_.pmal a evoba rettel eht tup ,tser eht daer oT_

*****

They walked up to the castle guards and Sir Leon instructed them to find a large empty stable to put the dragon. The guards stared uneasily at Nessie.

"Dinnae be sic a muckle bairn, she wilnae bite." Sir Finlay attempted to reassure them. "Ah promise that she wull be oan her best behavior."

The guards did not look reassured.

They entered the castle, where there were several people hustling and bustling.

Sir Leon reached out and stopped a servant passing by.

"Take Sir Finlay's things and put him in a room for the night." Leon said. 

Merlin looked up in a daze at the departing knight, having been so absorbed in his reading that he missed the last few minutes.

"The king is in a war council right now." Sir Leon informed Merlin in a quiet tone. "He gave me strict instructions not to interrupt him. That gives us a few hours, but eventually I am going to have to inform him of what happened."

"I… I don't know yet. I think it's in a code. I need to go to my quarters to properly understand this, can I get back to you in an hour?"

"You should hurry."

*****

As Merlin got back to his quarters, he read the last sentence in reverse. He pushed open the door and found Gaius there.

"What have you got there, Merlin?"

As an answer, Merlin brought the letter just above the lamp, and words began to appear on the page.

_Many years ago, our king, Dhòmhnaill Ambrosia, had a heart attack. For four minutes he was as one dead, and that anomaly caused the powers of a Dragonlord to transfer into all of his sons. The Eldest, Talorg, feared that one of his brothers would try to usurp his crown and sent them away on excursions that were further and further away from the castle. He even accused his new stepmother of adultery so that she would flee--along with her only child, a three year old named Brude._

_Then Talorg met an untimely end when Talorg's horse was startled by an angry squirrel and he was thrown off, hitting his head and drowning in the swamp._

_Soon the second eldest, Prince Drust, arrived. (Despite the distance his timely arrival was no surprise to anyone as he was very impatient by nature.) He tried to convince his father to retire. The King refused, and they quarreled. Shortly afterwards, an attempt to poison the king was made. Regrettably, this proved Drust's unsuitability as a ruler and he was executed. The third-borne prince was a sickly man by the name of Nectan. He lived as heir apparent for two years, before he was bedridden again and the king quietly sent out letters to the sons who had remained abroad. By that point Prince Balynor had made a name for himself in Uther's court and the King of Camelot was loath to see go either Sir Balinor or the red dragon under his control. The messenger returned with a fat purse and future inquiries stopped. Prince Nectan recovered and a year passed. Then the Purge happened and Balynor was believed to have been lost._

_That left one last heir, and when Nectan passed away from a fever nine years ago, Brude--then 15--became heir apparent._

_Then, this past week the Prince died with darkened fingers and lumps around his neck the size of chicken eggs. And now the King has a fever, swelling and a bloody cough._

_We fear that the King will not survive the month, but worse than that, some of the other Castlefolk exhibit symptoms of the same illness. We hear that you have learned the craft of a healer and we beg of you, my Lord Prince Merlin Emrys Ambrosia, to return to your birthright and render aid to your people._

_Sincerely,_

_Lady Derelei Aberdeen, Chancellor_

*****

"You don't know anything about this place!" Gaius said with alarm. 

Five minutes ago, Merlin had shown him the letter he had received. By itself, learning that Balinor was actually a prince was a shock. The fact that it made Young Merlin one as well…

Gaius watched dubiously as Merlin shoved random pieces of clothing into a bulging satchel. 

"Look, Gaius I _have_ to go help. There's an entire castle of sick people and one of them is my grandfather!"

"Yes, I know."

"You do? Then why were you…"

"I will come with you."

"You can't! It's a far, far away kingdom and they need you here."

Gaius sighed, frustrated. 

"You're right. But I can't let you leave without an extra pair of hands…"

"I know!" Merlin said and wandered out of the room.

He came back in a moment later with a book in his hand and the look of concentration on his face.

Merlin looked up, pointing out the small mirror propped against the wall. It had been a gift from Arthur that appeared in their quarters the day after Merlin joked that unlike the prince--who had several mirrors--he had to make do with glancing into rain barrels to check _his_ reflection.

"I can use a spell to enchant this mirror and do the same with another mirror when I arrive in Domon so that I can talk to you with this mirror after dinner each day or at another time if there is an emergency!" Merlin said excitedly and sat down on a stool.

 _"Drych, drych ar y wal; pwy yw'r tecaf ohonyn nhw i gyd?"_ Merlin chanted the spell, his eyes flashing gold and for a second the mirror flickered with an image of someone with golden hair.** Neither Gaius nor Merlin noticed.

"But Merlin, my boy, what if someone comes in with an emergency while we're talking?" Gaius said, still worried.

"Tell them that you have started practicing the far east art of meditation, and that you need to dedicate an hour of your day to it."

Merlin sprang out of his seat, mirror and satchel momentarily forgotten.

"I need to go tell Leon what I've decided!"

*****

**Author's Note:**

> *Ever heard of the Fountain of Youth?  
> **I don't want you to think that Merlin has forgotten Arthur or their destiny, he's just worried about his grandfather...


End file.
